Curing casing leak tool

Hydrocarbons are located in porous rock formations beneath the Earth's surface. Wells are drilled into these formations to access and produce the hydrocarbons. In order to protect people and the environment, wells are created by drilling a wellbore into the Earth and casing the wellbore using a casing string. Depending on the depth of the formation, multiple sections of a wellbore having different diameters may be drilled, and concentrically-placed casing strings may case each wellbore section.

Casing strings have many purposes, including isolating the internal environment of the well from an external environment of the well, isolating various formations from one another (such as isolating a hydrocarbon-bearing formation from freshwater-bearing formation), and providing a controlled conduit for hydrocarbons to migrate to the surface. A casing string may experience leaks at any point in its life cycle. When a leak occurs in a casing string, the integrity of the well is damaged, and the leak must be repaired to protect people and the environment and to continue wellbore operations.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.

This disclosure presents, in accordance with one or more embodiments methods and systems for repairing a leak in a tubular located in a well. The system includes a plug and a tool. The plug is configured to perform one or more pressure tests within the tubular to determine a location of the leak. The tool includes an upper isolation packer, a lower isolation packer, a lower ball valve, an upper ball valve, and drillable tubulars. The upper isolation packer is located up hole from the location of the leak and is configured to seal against an inner surface of the tubular. The lower isolation packer is located downhole from the location of the leak and is configured to seal against the inner surface of the tubular. The lower ball valve is located downhole from the lower isolation packer and is configured to allow the upper isolation packer and the lower isolation packer to seal against the inner surface of the tubular. The upper ball valve is located between the upper isolation packer and the lower isolation packer and is configured to deploy cement into the leak to repair the leak. The drillable tubulars connect the upper isolation packer, the lower isolation packer, the lower ball valve, and the upper ball valve to one another. The drillable tubulars, the upper isolation packer, the lower isolation packer, the lower ball valve, and the upper ball valve are made of drillable material.

The method includes determining a location of the leak in the well by performing one or more pressure tests within the tubular using a plug, making up a tool comprising an upper isolation packer, a lower isolation packer, a lower ball valve, an upper ball valve, and drillable tubulars, based on the location of the leak, and deploying the tool into the well. The method also includes setting the upper isolation packer up hole from the leak and the lower isolation packer downhole from the leak to seal the upper isolation packer and the lower isolation packer against an inner surface of the tubular using the lower ball valve, deploying cement into the leak using the upper ball valve to repair the leak, and drilling out the tool.

Other aspects and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.

In the following detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description.

Throughout the application, ordinal numbers (e.g., first, second, third, etc.) may be used as an adjective for an element (i.e., any noun in the application). The use of ordinal numbers is not to imply or create any particular ordering of the elements nor to limit any element to being only a single element unless expressly disclosed, such as using the terms “before”, “after”, “single”, and other such terminology. Rather, the use of ordinal numbers is to distinguish between the elements. By way of an example, a first element is distinct from a second element, and the first element may encompass more than one element and succeed (or precede) the second element in an ordering of elements.

shows a well () having a leak () in accordance with one or more embodiments. The well () shown is for example purposes only and a person skilled in the art will appreciate that any well having any type of wellbore trajectory, wellbore schematic, or well/equipment design may be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure herein. For example, the well () shown inhas four sets of casing strings; however, any well having at least one casing string that is experiencing a leak () may be used.

The well () shown inhas four casing strings: a production casing string (), an intermediate casing string (), a surface casing string (), and a conductor casing string (). The casing strings (,,,) extend from the surface () into the Earth and are cemented within the well (). The surface () may be any location on or above the Earth's surface, including a cellar or depression formed into the Earth's surface. Moreover, the casing strings (,,,) may have any suitable inner/outer diameter and length known in the art.

The casing strings (,,,) may be made out of any material known in the art, such as a steel alloy. All of the casing strings (,,,) are comprised of one or more tubulars connected to one another. The casing strings (,,,) may have varying lengths, inner diameters, and outer diameters, when compared to one another.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the conductor casing string () is the outer-most and shallowest-set casing string, which may be used to prevent the top of the well () from caving in and help circulate fluid.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the surface casing string () is nested inside the conductor casing string (). The surface casing string () may be used to isolate freshwater formations from deeper hydrocarbon formations such that hydrocarbons are prevented from contaminating water resources.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the intermediate casing string () is nested within the surface casing string (). The intermediate casing string () may be used to support deeper wells and isolate varying wellbore pressures.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the production casing string () is nested within the intermediate casing string (). The production casing string () is the deepest-set and inner-most casing string. The production casing string () may be used to provide a conduit for deploying production tubing and other production equipment into the well ().

shows the production casing string () having a leak (). The leak () causes the fluid located within the well () to migrate out of the well () into surrounding formations. As such, the fluid height () in the well () has lowered. The fluid in the well () may be any wellbore fluid known in the art, such as drilling mud, completion fluid, brine, production fluid, etc. It is important the leak () is repaired because the fluid located in the well () may contaminate downhole formations, or the reduction of fluid height in the well () may create pressure control situations that may lead to a kick or a blowout.

Conventional methods of repairing casing leaks require multiple trips into the well () which takes time and extends the window in which wellbore incidents, such as kicks and blowouts, may occur. Therefore, methods and systems that repair the leak () in a reduced number of trips in the well () is beneficial. As such, the present disclosure outlines a curing casing leak tool (CCLT) that is able to fix the leak () in a single trip after a pressure test has been performed on the well () to determine the depth of the leak ().

show a pressure test being performed on the well () using a plug () to determine the depth of the leak () in accordance with one or more embodiments.shows the plug () in an unsealed position andshows the plug in a sealed position. The plug () has a plug conduit (), a plug packer (), and a set of slips ().

The plug () is run into the well () on a tubular capable of conveying fluid into the plug (), such as drill pipe (). Drill pipe () may be metallic tubulars threaded to one another. In accordance with one or more embodiments, the plug () is designed to isolate various areas within the production casing string () to determine the location of a suspected leak ().

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a leak () may be suspected during drilling operations when a fluid/pressure loss is detected. In production operations, a leak () may be suspected when there is an unexpended decrease in production.

Regardless of the method of detection, when a leak () is suspected, the plug () may be lowered into the well (), as shown in, on the drill pipe (). Once the plug () is at a pre-determined depth, the pressure test is run.

The pressure test may include engaging the slips () into the inner surface of the production casing string () and expanding the plug packer () to seal against the inner surface of the production casing string (). In accordance with one or more embodiments, the slips () and the plug packer () are activated by rotating the drill pipe () at the surface () and slacking off the drill pipe ().

Once the slips () are engaged and the plug packer () is expanded, as shown in, a fluid is pumped through the drill pipe (), through the plug conduit (), and into an interior of the production casing string (). Once the pressure test is completed, the slips () are disengaged and the plug packer () is unexpanded so the plug () can be moved within the production casing string ().

If the plug () is located below the leak (), the pressure should build during the pressure test as fluid is pumped into the well (). If the plug () is located above the leak () during the pressure test, the fluid will migrate into the leak (). Thus, if the plug () is located above the leak (), the pressure will not build, or will not build as much as it would if there were no leak ().

Moreover, the pressure test can be performed at various depth intervals until the depth of the leak () is determined. Once the depth of the leak () is determined, the plug () may be removed from the well () and the CCLT () can be run into the well () to repair the leak ().

shows the CCLT () in accordance with one or more embodiments. The CCLT includes an upper isolation packer (), an upper ball valve (), a lower isolation packer (), and a lower ball valve (). These components are connected to one another using a series of drillable tubulars ().

The drillable tubulars () may include non-metallic drill pipes that are tubular joints made of a non-metallic drillable material, such as Amine Cured Glass Reinforced Epoxy. The drillable tubulars () may be connected to one another and to the other components of the CCLT () using any connection means known in the art, such as threaded connections, bolted connections, welded connections, etc.

The upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () are used to seal off portions of the well () from one another by sealing against an interior surface of a tubular, such as the production casing string (). This is shown in greater detail in. The upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () may be any type of packer known in the art, such as mechanical or hydraulic packers. The drillable tubulars () may pass through the upper isolation packer () via a first through-bore () and pass through the lower isolation packer () via a second through-bore ().

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the upper isolation packer () includes a sliding valve ()/disconnect sub that allows a cement stinger () to sting into and out of the upper isolation packer (). The cement stinger () may be a conventional cement stinger connected to drill pipe () as is used in conventional cement stinging operations. In other embodiments, the cement stinger () may also be made out of the same drillable material as the drillable tubulars () and run into the well () via drillable tubulars () or drill pipe ().

The upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () may be made out of a drillable material. For example, the expandable portions of the upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () may be made out of rubber and the non-expandable portions may be made out of brass.

The upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () are set by applying a pre-determined pressure against the lower ball valve (). The pre-determined pressure causes the expandable portions of the upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () to inflate and seal against the inner wall of the production casing string ().

shows a cut-away view of the lower ball valve () in accordance with one or more embodiments. The lower ball valve () is a tubular having a lower ball valve conduit () extending therein. A lower ball seat () is located within the lower ball valve conduit ().

A lower ball () is configured to be dropped into the lower ball valve conduit () and land on the lower ball seat (). Once the lower ball () lands in the lower ball seat (), the lower ball valve conduit () is blocked, and fluid can be pumped on top of the lower ball () to build pressure up hole from the lower ball valve (). This pressure may be used to set the upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer ().

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the body of the lower ball valve (), the lower ball seat (), and the lower ball () may be made out of a drillable material, such as brass, Amine Cured Glass Reinforced Epoxy, etc. As shown in, the lower ball valve () is connected between two neighboring joints of drillable tubular () and is located below, i.e., downhole from, the lower isolation packer (). The lower ball valve () is connected between two neighboring joints of drillable tubular () using any connection means known in the art, such as a threaded connection.

show various views of the upper ball valve () in accordance with one or more embodiments. The upper ball valve () is a tubular and comprises a sliding sleeve (). Components of the upper ball valve () may be made out of a drillable material, such as brass, Amine Cured Glass Reinforced Epoxy, etc.

The sliding sleeve () is located inside the tubular and has an upper position and a lower position. In the upper position, the sliding sleeve () is blocking circulating ports (), as shown in. The sliding sleeve () is held in the upper position using one or more shear pins (). The shear pins () may be located anywhere along the sliding sleeve () between the sliding sleeve () and the body of the upper ball valve (). The shear pins () are configured to shear when a pre-determined pressure is applied across the shear pins ().

In the lower position, the sliding sleeve () is uncovering the circulating ports (), as shown in. The sliding sleeve () is placed in the lower position when the shear pins () are sheared, and the sliding sleeve () is pushed in a downhole direction using fluid pressure. When the sliding sleeve () is in the lower position, the circulating ports () are able to create hydraulic communication between an external environment of the upper ball valve () and an upper ball valve conduit () within the upper ball valve ().

The sliding sleeve () is held in the lower position using a lock mechanism (). The lock mechanism () may be a lock mandrel, locking dogs, a lock ring, etc. In accordance with one or more embodiments, the lock mechanism () may by a lock ring and may include a groove on the interior surface of the upper ball valve () and a ring on the exterior surface of the sliding sleeve (). The ring may be compressed into the sliding sleeve () until the ring approaches the groove. As the ring approached the groove, the ring may jut out from the sliding sleeve () to lock into the groove of the upper ball valve ().

The upper ball valve conduit () extends through both the upper ball valve () and the sliding sleeve (). An upper ball seat () is located in the sliding sleeve () within the upper ball valve conduit (). An upper ball () is configured to be dropped into the upper ball valve conduit () and land on the upper ball seat ().

Once the upper ball () lands on the upper ball seat (), the upper ball () blocks the upper ball valve conduit (), and pressure may build up hole from the upper ball () when fluid is pumped downhole. When pressure builds on the upper ball (), the pressure shears the shear pins () and pushes the sliding sleeve () in a downhole direction to uncover the circulating ports () and place the sliding sleeve () in the lower position.

shows an external view of the upper ball valve () with the sliding sleeve in the upper position. The circulating ports () are machined into the wall/body of the upper ball valve (). The sliding sleeve () is shown in the upper position and is blocking the circulating ports ().

shows an operational schematic of the upper ball valve (). Specifically,shows the sliding sleeve () in the upper position, covering the circulating ports ().

shows the upper ball () being dropped into the upper ball valve conduit ().

shows the upper ball () landed out onto the upper ball seat () and pressure accumulating on top of the upper ball ().

shows the sliding sleeve () in the lower position, uncovering the circulating ports (). The sliding sleeve () is placed in the lower position shown inwhen the pressure accumulating on top of the upper ball () is sufficient to shear the shear pins () and push the sliding sleeve () downhole within the upper ball valve (). At this point, the hydraulic communication exist between the upper ball valve conduit () and an external environment of the upper ball valve ().

As shown in, the upper ball valve () is connected between two neighboring joints of drillable tubular () and is located below (i.e., downhole from) the upper isolation packer () and above (i.e., up hole from) the lower isolation packer (). The upper ball valve () is connected between two neighboring joints of drillable tubular () using any connection means known in the art, such as a threaded connection.

show the CCLT () being used to repair the leak () in accordance with one or more embodiments. Components shownthat are the same as or similar to components shown inhave not be re-described for purposes of readability and have the same description and function as outlined above.

shows the CCLT () run to the required setting depth within the well (). The required setting depth is determined based off of the pressure testing performed using the plug () as outlined in. Specifically, the upper ball valve () is placed proximate the leak () and the upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () are placed up hole and downhole from the leak (), respectively. The upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () are set in place using the lower ball valve ().

Specifically, the upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () are set by dropping the lower ball () into the lower ball valve (). The lower ball () is of a smaller outer diameter than the inner diameter of the upper ball seat () so that the lower ball () may pass through the upper ball valve () to land out in the lower ball valve (). A pre-determined fluid pressure (e.g., 1000 pounds per square inch (psi)) is applied to the CCLT () by pumping a fluid from the surface () onto the lower ball () located in the lower ball seat () to activate both the upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer ().

The upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () are activated to seal the space located between the upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () from the portion of the well () located up hole from the upper isolation packer () and from the portion of the well () located downhole from the lower isolation packer (). The setting of the upper isolation packer () and the lower isolation packer () may be confirmed by bleeding off pressure and pressure testing the backside and string tensions.